Neighbors: There is a great deal of interest in developments currently planned for the North Main area: Some positive…some not so positive. We are providing information below for those interested.
The following 3 development proposals are all on the agenda for the Thursday, August 8, Planning Commission Meeting to be held at 4pm, 9th floor, City Hall. We encourage anyone with an interest in what is happening to our neighborhood to attend this meeting and voice your opinion, whether positive or negative. There is a petition being distributed by some North Main residents regarding the Elrod development on Wade Hampton…read it and sign it if you wish. Call or email your city council member(s) with your concerns. As they say, if you don’t speak up now, you can’t complain later.
- Stone Avenue/Rowley St. – The proposed plan calls for mixed use, residential and commercial, and appears to meet the criteria that residents want for the revitalization of Stone Avenue. The proposed planned development will include 51 apartments and approximately 1600 ft2 of retail/commercial space on the corner of East Stone and Rowley Streets. The building will be four stories high on Stone Avenue and 2 stories high in the back on Rowley Street. The apartments offered include 1BR, 2BR and studios. There is a proposed community space garden/firepit in the back, bike parking and outside rooftop deck. For further details, see the application filed with the city.
- The second application concerns the property at 18 E. Montclair. The proposal is to replace the existing house which sits on 2 platted lots with 3 houses. The developer will hold a public neighborhood meeting this Thursday, August 1, at 6PM at Daybreak Community Church located at 37 E. Hillcrest Drive. The purpose is to inform the immediately surrounding property owners of the plans and answer questions prior to the August 8 Planning Commission Meeting. For more details, see the application filed with the city.
- The third agenda item concerns a zoning change on the corner of E. Earle St. and Wade Hampton Blvd., the Elrod property. The existing E. Earle St. lot (TMS # 35-8-21.2) will be combined with the “51 Wade Hampton Blvd.” lot (TMS # 35-8-22) and will be split for frontage access from Wade Hampton. Some of you recently attended a meeting held by the property owner at the site. For further details, we refer you to the application filed with the city.
Many of our members have expressed concern with the recent development proposals such as Cottages at Townes and the development on Mountainview. Of particular concern were the extremely large houses on small lots (termed McMansions), the loss of trees and wildlife habitat, and the destruction of one house to replace it with multiple houses. This type of development, called infill, seems to be popping up more frequently. It may not be in your backyard yet, but if you have a vacant lot, open space, or an older house on a multi-parcel lot near you…you don’t have to look far to see what it may one day look like.
NMCA would like to hear from our members and residents. If you have comments or opinions, please post them below or on our facebook page.
